translated_Chapter 70

70: Countdown Begins (Happy Dragon Boat Festival, Everyone!)

“This is different, I can’t see her now, I…” Qiu Shi was almost incoherent, “Is she sick?”

Qiu Ci chuckled, “How did you know? Tracking or surveillance? Didn’t you already break up with her?”

“This isn’t over between us. Qiu Ci, you guys better not interfere, or don’t forget Jing Yueming is still by my side.” Qiu Shi’s hair was disheveled, showing no sign of the spirited Ai La she once was.

“What do you want to say? Qiu Shi, do you want to know why Tsukimi Rin went to the hospital? She was driven there by you. She’s always been afraid of you, and you keep calling her to provoke her. Stop it, okay? Or just leave all this behind and move to Japan to find your Tsukimi Rin, and stop tormenting us.” Qiu Ci sat back in his leather chair.

“You were the ones who forced me first. Tsukimi Rin being like this, don’t tell me the Qin family can just absolve themselves of responsibility. Don’t you feel any guilt?” Whenever he thought of Tsukimi Rin, Qiu Ci gnashed his teeth at his younger sister. Why? Why were these two always at odds in Qiu Shi’s eyes, always having to sacrifice one for the other?

“I haven’t contacted her in a long time, and from her perspective, I’ve always been helping her. What about you? Qiu Shi, what about you? It’s been over a decade. What have you treated her as?”

“You don’t need to ask me. You call her now. She never answers my calls.”

“I won’t.”

Qiu Shi suddenly lunged forward to snatch Qiu Ci’s personal phone.

Qiu Ci didn’t dare to have a physical confrontation with her, and of course, he couldn’t appeal to her morals either.

The phone was snatched away anyway.

Qiu Shi entered the number and dialed.

It rang for a long time.

Qiu Shi silently counted the seconds in her heart. A full minute passed, and it wasn’t answered.

She expertly dialed again.

She continuously prayed to heaven, begging for it to be answered. She wanted to hear Tsukimi Rin’s voice.

Perhaps heaven really intervened. The moment the call was answered, both people in the office didn’t even dare to breathe.

Qiu Ci had also called Tsukimi Rin several times recently, but they were all either rejected or unanswered.

A noisy male voice came through, speaking a string of gibberish Japanese.

Qiu Ci’s eyes widened in surprise. He couldn’t understand Japanese, but he could tell it was an adult male.

The tone was quite polite.

Qiu Shi’s initial surprise turned to calm, and finally, she hung up.

“What’s going on?”

Qiu Shi sighed, “She lost her phone. I’ll call again tonight until she answers.”

This commotion calmed them both down.

“Actually, it’s okay. She just has some psychological problems and is seeing a doctor.” Qiu Ci said patiently, “You should just forget about her in the future.”

Qiu Shi looked at him in disbelief, “You don’t understand. I can’t accept her really leaving. We didn’t break up, Qiu Ci. If it weren’t for you, we would have been like we planned years ago…”

“That won’t happen. I wouldn’t willingly come and work for you.” Qiu Ci tapped his fingers lightly on the documents on the table.

“Huh?” Qiu Shi was puzzled, “What’s the difference now?”

“Well… consider it something I snatched from you. But, back to Tsukimi Rin, you don’t need to contact her anymore. You have a big impact on her.”

“Then what’s the difference between her and being dead to me? I want her back by my side.”

Qiu Ci looked at her with contempt, “Are you saying that while you’re living and dating Jing Yueming, you still can’t forget your ex-girlfriend? Qiu Shi, you’re asking for too much.”

“Which of them is important to you?” Qiu Shi asked, then thought of something else, “Or is it Qin Yishan, Su Yuyang? You three are all gay, what’s the difference?”

“Qin Yishan is your fiancé…”

“I never intended to…” Qiu Shi wanted to retort.

“What did you intend to do? You only made plans for Tsukimi Rin. Did you ever make plans for me? Or for Jing Yueming? He has the college entrance exam this year, and you, as his lover, don’t even remember his mock exam scores. What are you planning to do? You’re questioning me because of Tsukimi Rin, then what about me…” I can’t question her because of Jing Yueming.

Qiu Ci was nothing to Jing Yueming. “Do whatever you want.”

He ignored Qiu Shi. Seeing that she couldn’t get any news about Tsukimi Rin, Qiu Shi turned around, not knowing where to go, probably to find Qin Yishan.

Whatever.

Whatever.

He would find Su Yuyang for a drink tonight.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

Qiu Ci idly rested in the collection room.

It housed some of the gemstones, jade, and antiques he had collected.

Some were gifts from family and friends, and some were bought at auctions or through other channels. In short, there were many.

They were displayed in glass cases, one after another. Whenever he felt itchy, he would come in and occasionally take one out to play with.

The antique jade ware he got from the last auction was stored in one of the glass display cases.

Exquisite and warm, but unfortunately, it was chipped.

The craftsman had strange ideas. Such good jade material, instead of using gold or silver to repair it, he used a piece of poisonous thallium.

Or perhaps the craftsman’s purpose was impure.

Qiu Ci put on gloves and stroked the metal.

Thallium burns with a green flame.

Perhaps it was also the color of his pupils, but Qiu Ci had been very interested in this color since he was a child.

Next was red.

The combination of red and green was considered deadly by most people.

That was the perspective and aesthetics of modern people.

The red and green color scheme in classical oil paintings was quite classic, and it was also very popular in ancient China.

Contrasting colors were prominent and eye-catching, and at the same time, the two colors could neutralize each other.

Qiu Ci didn’t even know how his thoughts flew so far.

Perhaps he had touched it for too long, or it was already unstable, but the rare metal actually fell off. Qiu Ci frantically tried to put it back.

In the end, he reluctantly gave up.

It would be better to find a piece of gold to fill it in later.

The metallic thallium was left in the display case, and he currently didn’t know where was the best place to put it.

Qiu Shi seemed to have gone to find Qin Yishan later, because Qin Yishan contacted Qiu Ci.

He complained that Qiu Shi was acting neurotic now.

Qiu Ci was a little absent-minded. There were still two months until the college entrance exam.

He was a little worried about Jing Yueming.

He knew from the previous letters that Jing Yueming’s academic scores were average.

And he was a bit weak in some subjects.

Now that he had failed the mock exam, if his academic scores weren’t good, he would have to repeat the year.

“Are you listening? Qiu Ci?” Qin Yishan’s electrifying voice came through the phone.

“Huh? Yeah.” Qiu Ci’s thoughts returned. “You decide.”

There was a long silence on the other end. “I was saying, come to my house this weekend. My grandfather hasn’t seen you in years.”

Qiu Ci: “Ah? Me? At least my sister should go.”

“You just said I should decide.”

“No, no, no, this weekend is even worse, in short, it’s not possible.” Qiu Ci clearly refused him.

Time passed so quickly.

One autumn, then another.

Three months ago, Jing Yueming took the college entrance exam.

Qiu Ci really wanted to give him a bouquet of flowers.

That day he also went to the school gate. There were so many people. A single examinee would have parents, grandparents, and younger siblings coming to pick them up.